A College Story
by DracoHermioneSupporter
Summary: Hermione has graduated from Hogwarts.. What happens next?


A College Story  
  
Chapter One : On Her Own  
  
It was a promising new day, a Saturday that is, at the St. Andrews Institution of Magic. The many college students were seen either scrambling about to their morning classes or the older ones were trying to get off of the campus for the weekend. Everyone was in their class already or had left except for one familiar face and that face was Hermione Granger's. She was now a freshman in college without her two best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, for once in her seven year that they had been friends and no stupid pests, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, Milicent Bulstrode, or even their ring leader, Draco Malfoy. She was very content because she was finally alone for once. No Albus Dumbledore, no Minerva McGonagall (which disappointed Hermione a bit), and especially no greasy-haired git, Severus Snape.  
  
It was a dramatic change from Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but she loved her new school. Its secluded and peaceful location in the north of London gave her more of a sense of calmness and tranquility, not to also mention the quiet study time (like she really needed it). She didn't need the extra study time however because she had half of all of the college credits that she needed obtained by have taken not intermediate, but all advanced classes back at Hogwarts since her third year.  
  
-Back at her dormitory-  
  
(A/N: Here is a description of how her room looks like. Her walls are a pretty shade of beige and her floor is covered in a soft shade of lavander carpet. Her bed, which is huge by the way, has dark blue comforters with a silver lining and trim, along with three red and gold cushions and a pillow with a picture of Hogwarts from a distance on it on the front with her name sewn in at the bottom in cursive. It reads, Hermione Katherine Granger in a flowy, cursive handwriting almost, except it in done in a gold thread. In the back of the room, there is a nice mahogany desk with a window there. The window isn't a regular window with a pane and all, but is a special double-side open type and her curtains are lacy and white with a flower print. Her new owl, Dylan, is sitting in a cage by her desk and the owl is not a snowy white one like Harry's, but is a small owl with brownish feathers like Erwol's, which Ron had used during his second year. Her cat, Crookshanks, was curled up in the opposite corner in the room in a happy slumber while her new puppy, Aaron, was sleeping in a bed next to Crookshanks. Aaron was a fairly small puppy with a soft brown coat of fur and was a labador retriever. She had her own private bathroom on the left side of her room equipped with a shower/bath, a sink, medicine cabinet, and a mirror. A good enough description for you? Let's move on, shall we?)  
  
Hermione didn't have any really early morning classes today, so she had just woken up from a pleasant slumber to go ahead and get ready for her mid-morning/afternoon classes. She got up and set her alarm clock for the next morning while she went into the lavatory to take a long, hot shower. She took about an half an hour in there and she came back out and went to her wardrobe. Her mum had sent her some money before her freshman year in college for a new wardrobe. It wasn't because she had a massive change in height or anything, she had grown only about three inches, winding up at a steady 5'5. Of course, little did she know that all of those years of carrying about fifty pounds of books in her school bag had kept her from growing a bit more.  
  
Holding her towel up to her body a little closer, she looked through the wardrobe for quite the while before finally choosing her outfit. She laid it out on her bed. (A/N: She has many different school uniforms here in college, mostly because of her age. She is currently eighteen-years-old and this is a college in the wizarding world.) It was a nice and pretty simple uniform, but she decided to spice it up a little bit. The uniform were Slytherin colors, silver and black, but it had a hint of midnight blue, so she liked it a lot. She shortened the skirt a good four inches, showing a good part of her lower thighs, and also made the v-neck on her uniform vest, which was a grey one with green trim, a bit lower in cut, and then her blouse she left the top two buttons undone as she put it on. Her hair was not the bushy hair that she had since her first year, but a wonderful, lushious shade of a rich, deep brown, casading down to the top mid-section of her back in long, flowing, wavy curls.  
  
She grabbed her wand and having her uniform on now, she inspected herself. "Hair.." She automatically performed a drying spell on her hair and then watched as her natural curls appeared. "Check," she said happily. "Blouse.." She looked down at her white blouse that was covered partially by her vest and continued to say, "Check." She moved onto saying, "Vest.." "Check." "Skirt.." She looked down a few inches lower and was satisfied at the great job the shortening charm did for her skirt. "Check," she said content at the results. She then said, "Tights.." She suddenly waved her wand once in the air and said, "Accio stockings!" A pair of tights made there way out from a drawer into her open, outstretched hands. After she had put the flesh-colored pair on, she said, "Check." She then looked carefully at her face as she said, "Make-up.." She didn't bother to put on her make-up the muggle way except for the lip gloss. She muttered a spell that magically beautified her face almost instantly. She inspected her face in the mirror and her lips shone a smile of absolute joy. Her mascara was perfect on her eye lashes, the foundation and blush was a perfect tone, her light green and silver eye shadow accented and complimented her eyes more than ever, and the eye liner was a perfect thin line across her eyes where the eye shadow was. She then picked up a tube of nude lip gloss and applied to her rosy lips and closed the bottle. "Check," she whispered to the dead, silent air. She inspected herself in the mirror again.  
  
She had noticed several changes since her fourth year at Hogwarts, starting at the Yule Ball. Victor Krum, the qudditch all-star, had asked her to go to the ball with him and she had accepted. The thing was, she wasn't used to dressing up for a boy or anyone in a matter of fact. Lavander Brown and Parvati Patil changed everything though. They had changed her bookworm image into a sexy, goddess image. Her periwinkle robes were absolutely beautiful that year and her bushy hair, tamed with a simple hair potion, was sleek and shiny, put up in an up-do. Harry and Ron were absolutely astonished and Victor had complimented her all night. She even could have sworn that even Draco Malfoy had been looking at her. She smirked at the mirror thinking of this. During her fifth year, she really didn't have any oppurtunities to dress up, so she didn't. Her sixth and seventh years, however, was a different story. She had embraced her inner woman and had let the changes happen. Her breasts became more full, stopping at a good C-cup, her hair had just magically changed out of her bushy, unmanagable curls into a soft waterfall of smooth, sleek set of wavy curls, her height was three inches more than before, and she had just started to flirt with guys. Snapping back into reality, she heard the mirror say something.  
  
"You look beautiful, you're going to hurt your eyes if you keep staring at yourself young lady," the mirror said.  
  
Hermoine blushed and said quietly, "Sorry, I guess I was just daydreaming a little too much there." She walked out of the lavatory and towards her desk, sitting down in the chair there. As she was about to check her schedule again for the umpteenth time, a small sound came from Dylan's cage. She smiled and petted her owl on the head, but was welcomed by a small nip at her fingers. "Okay, okay, I'll get you a treat..", she said softly to the owl playfully. Her owl hooted in satisfaction, watching Hermione grab a small treat from a box from underneath her desk. She put it in the cage and watched Dylan eat it rather quickly. Her owl hooted in contentment, so Hermione released Dylan from her cage and let it perch on the finger of her right hand. "You can go and stretch your wings a bit before I have to go to class," she said while petting the owl once more, also sliding her hands down softly on her wings. The owl hooted and made a quick dash at the window. Hermione giggled and then went back to checking her schedule.  
  
Sunday : Expert Charms - 8:30 - 10:00 A.M.  
  
Mid-morning break - 10:06 - 11:00 A.M.  
  
Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts - 11:07 A.M. - 12:15 P.M.  
  
Lunch - 12:21 - 1:30 P.M.  
  
Independent Study - 1:36 - 5:00 P.M.  
  
Expert charms wasn't much of a surprise at all for Hermione. She was just the first student to produce a levitating charm during her first year during charms class for Professor Flitwick. That was also when Ron had openly made fun at her for critizing his pronounication of the incantation. She then moved on and smiled at the independent study period in her schedule. It meant that the school had given her a part of the school day to actually spend half of her time in the school's library and maybe a quick nap in the dormitory. Defense Against the Dark Arts had been her weakest subject, even though she had the highest marks in school, since her third year, after Professor Remus Lupin not letting her have a go against the boggart. She then paused and stopped at a funny memory.  
  
-Flashback, Third Year-  
  
"We will practice the charm without our wands first. After me, please... riddikulus!"  
  
"Riddikulus!" said the class together.  
  
"Good," said Professor Lupin. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in Neville."  
  
The wardrboe shook again, though not as much as Neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows.  
  
"Right, Neville," said Professor Lupin. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"  
  
Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out.  
  
"Didn't catch that, Neville, sorry," said Professor Lupin cheerfully.  
  
Neville looked around rather wildly, as though beggin someone to help him, then said, barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape."  
  
Nearly everyone laughed. Even Neville grinned apologetically. Professor Lupin, however, looked thoughtful.  
  
"Professor Snape...hmmm...Neville, I believe that you live with your grandmother?"  
  
"Er --- yes," said Neville nervously. "But --- I don't want the boggart to turn into her either.  
  
"No, no, you misunderstand me," said Profeesor Lupin, now smiling. "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"  
  
Neville looked startled, but said, "Well...always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. And a long dress...green, normally...and sometimes a fox-fur scarf."  
  
"And a handbag?" prompted Professor Lupin.  
  
"A big red one," said Neville.  
  
"Right then," said Professor Lupin. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"  
  
"Yes," said Neville uncertainly, plainly wondering what was coming next.  
  
"When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape," said Lupin. "And you will raise your wand --- thus --- and cry 'Riddikulus' --- and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag."  
  
There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe wobbled more violently.  
  
"If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," said Professor Lupin. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical...."  
  
(A/N: The next good bit is from Harry's point-of-view, so I cut it out. All of the excerpts belong to Ms. J. K. Rowling, who currently resides in jolly ole' England with her children. Let's continue, shall we once again? Okay, let's move on....)  
  
"Neville, we're all going to back away," said Professor Lupin. "Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward....Everyone back, now, so NEville can get a clear shot ---"  
  
They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone besides the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.  
  
"On the count of three, Neville," said Professor Lupin, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One --- two --- three --- now!"  
  
A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville.  
  
Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes.  
  
"R --- r --- riddikulus!" squeaked Neville.  
  
There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.  
  
There was a roar of laughter; the boggart paused, confused, and Professor Lupin shouted, "Parvati! Forward!"  
  
-Fade back to her bedroom-  
  
Monday : Expert Arithmancy - 10:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.  
  
Lunch - 1:06 - 2:00 P.M.  
  
Advanced History of Magic - 2:07 - 4:00 P.M.  
  
She smiled, well more like grinned, at the expert Arithmancy class. Using the Time-Turner to take extra classes had been really useful during her third year. She mentally thanked Minerva McGonagall for that, but this was also why she was a year younger than she should have been.  
  
Tuesday : Expert Transfiguration Double Block - 9:30 A.M. - 1:30 P.M.  
  
Lunch - 1:36 - 2:30 P.M.  
  
Free Time - 2:30 - 5:00 P.M. (may be substituted as independent study)  
  
Intermediate Divination Double Block - 5: 40 - 9:40 P.M.  
  
She had a double block of Trainsfiguration because she had a love for the subject, maybe it was because Professor McGonagall had taught it, and also because she was the assistant teacher in the class. The teacher, Professor Araminta LeShay, who was French by the way, had heard of Hermione's great success in Transfiguration from Professor McGonagall in her recommandation letter from Hogwarts, so she had used her for an assistant, also knowing that half of her students didn't quite understand her because of her heavy French accent. Hermione had nothing to frown about until she came upon Divination. She had begged her professors back at Hogwarts for her not to take Divination, but she had to take it because she had stopped taking it after her third year, thinking that it was all a bunch of rubbish. It was her only intermediate class. She was happy though that it wasn't a regular-leveled class.  
  
Wednesday : Expert Muggle Studies : 9:45 - 11:45 A.M.  
  
Lunch - 12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M.  
  
Expert Herbology - 1:06 - 3:30 P.M.  
  
Independent Study - 3:36 - 7:00 P.M.  
  
Why she took Muggle Studies, she didn't know. Maybe it was for an easy grade, or maybe it was to show the entire school that she was all-knowing in the subject since she was a muggle-born witch. Herbology had always been an easy subject for Hermione, so the expert level didn't surprise her at all.  
  
Thursday : Expert Potions All-Day - 8:45 A.M. - 7:00 P.M.  
  
(A lunch break in between 1:00 - 2:00 P.M. and an hour rest/lavatory break at 4:00 P.M.)  
  
Expert Astronomy - 11:45 P.M. - 1:00 A.M. (A/N: To view and study the stars at night and the college student's curvew wasn't there.)  
  
She had been an excellent student in Potions for the last seven years, it's just that Professor Snape hadn't recognized her for it. He had always made fun at her or made awful excuses to take points off of Gryffindor such as back in her third year when Malfoy was faking that he was awfully hurt by Buckbeak, Hagrid's hippogriff which was innocent, but was executed by the Ministry of Magic, or well, Hermione and Harry had gone back with the Time Turner to save Sirius Black and Buckbeak and they had escaped together. She remembered clearly what had happened during that day in Potions class...  
  
-Flashback, Third Year-  
  
"Orange, Longbottom," said Snape, ladling some up and allowing it to splash back into the cauldron, so that everyone could see. "Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything pentrate that thick skull of yours? Didin't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one rat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"  
  
Neville was pink and trembling. He looked as though he was on the verge of tears.  
  
"Please, sir," said Hermione, "please, I could help Neville put it right -----"  
  
"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," said Snape coldly, and Hermione went as pink as Neville. "Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly."  
  
-End of Flashback-  
  
She scowled silently, noting Snape's cruelty and she also recalled when he had called her "an insufferable know-it-all." 'The nerve of that git!', she thought as she went back to her schedule. She was silently appauding at the thought that she had Professor Maximus DeBow as her Potions professor. He wasn't a Potions master, but he taught students to become a Potions master of mistress in Hermione's case. She had always secretly wanted to become an expert in the field and Snape hadn't helped, so she thought that having an all-day Potions class and then a mastery class the next day that her dream would come true.  
  
Friday : The Mastery of Potions - How to Become a Potions Master/Mistress - All-Day Workshop - 8:00 A.M. - 8:00 P.M. (Lunch and Dinner will be eaten during the workshop and lavatory breaks will be provided when needed.)  
  
Saturday : Advanced Caretaking of Magical Creatures - 9:15 - 11:45 A.M.  
  
Lunch - 11: 51 A.M. - 12:54: P.M.  
  
Foriegn Language (Korean) - 1:00 - 3:00 P.M. (A/N: Don't ask me why about the Korean being in there as a foriegn language. I'm Korean and Spanish seemed to be quite the obvious and besides, I'd thought that the Korean font would amuse you. ^^ Also, Asia is a next-door neighbor to Europe and why she learns Korean, you'll soon find out...)  
  
She looked at her clock and it read, 9:00 A.M. "Bloody hell!", she said outloud. She was going to be late for class if she didn't leave the dormitory now. She waved her wand and said a very new incantation she had figured out for Crookshanks and Aaron, it would conjure up some food and water until she would come back into the room after all of her classes. Yes, it would refill if the bowls were empty. She also let Dylan back into her cage and her food and water were already there. She grabbed her school bag, which was a new one just for college. It was a brown, leather bag with her name sewn into it just like her pillow, but this enscription was in a silver thread at the bottom right corner. It also read Hermione Katherine Granger. She had thought that it told the whole world of her name, but she liked it and accepted it graciously from her old Transfiguration professor, Professor McGonagall. She threw her copies of Dangerous Magical Creatures : How to Keep Safe, An Ancient Language of Asia : Korean,and Korean Calligraphy of Ancient History. She opened the door of her dormitory and closed the door behind her after walking out of the room.  
  
-+Out of her dormitory-+  
  
Hermione paced through the empty hallways of the girls' dormitories, looking for the entrance into the Mess Hall downstairs, which would lead her to the stairs up to the second and then the third floor to where her first class was. She then slowed her pace down and went inside of the classroom of Professor Moses Chan. He was a Cantonese man from China that had studied the Caretaking of Magical Creatures for some time now, but he was just in his late-twenties. She smirked at the age because honestly, all of the girls in his class were drooling at the thought of him even just speaking to them.  
  
As she walked into the classroom, the professor greeted her. "Good morning, Miss Granger," he said while smiling.  
  
"Hello, Professor Chan," she said politely, not noticing him being extra nice to her.  
  
"Have a seat please, Miss Granger, class is about to start in two minutes." The professor motioned towards her seat.  
  
Hermione nodded lightly and sat down at the front where she always sat. Old habits could never change for her such as the love for reading and sitting in the front to get extra notes. In her case, the professor had given her many extra notes. In fact, too many extra notes. He had been flirting with her like crazy ever since she had come to the school, but Hermione pretended that he didn't exist, so he hadn't existed at all to her as a possible 'romantic partner'. She had been flirtacious during her last two years at Hogwarts, but she didn't want to settle for anything right now because her studies were way too important to let to slip at all.  
  
Professor Chan's lecture this morning was about a creature she had learned about long ago, Hippogriffs. The lecture was highly boring, yes, you heard correctly, boring, but she sat   
  
through it patiently avioding Chan's glances. He asked, "What does a Hippogriff look like and how to you get near one?"  
  
Hermione raised her hand quickly. There were things that would never change and Hermione's status of a know-it-all would never change.  
  
"Yes, Miss Granger?", he acknowledged her raised hand.  
  
Hermione spoke calmly and precisely. "A Hippogriff is a magical creature that has a body, hind legs, and a tail of horses, but the front legs, wings, and head of what seems to be a giant eagle, with cruel, steel-colored beaks and large, brilliantly orange eyes. The talons on their front legs are half a foot long and deadly looking. They basically appear as a half horse and half bird. Their feathers change back and forth from feathers to hair and each of them are different colors; stormy gray, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black." She paused and then continued on. "Hippogriffs are proud creatures and they are easily offended, so if you have just happen to insult one, you're a goner for good. You always have to wait for the Hipppgriff to make the first move. It is a very polite creature, so you have to walk towards them, bow, and wait for them to bow back. If it bows back, you're allowed to touch it. If it does not, you should get away from it quickly because its talons are sharp."  
  
Professor Chan looked amazed and the rest of the students were either gaping or staring at her in awe or jealously.  
  
Hermione blushed a little and sat back in her seat.  
  
"Excellent, Miss Granger! Fifteen points for the Godric's Saints!", he then went back to his lecture and then he assigned them their homework which was a roll of parchment on hippogriffs and their behavior and what they ate.  
  
Hermoine smiled and the rest of the members in her house cheered for her. The Salazar's Dragons weren't too happy about that. 'Just like the Slytherins back at Hogwarts...', she thought in disappointment. It was going to be a long year..  
  
She walked out of the classroom when the bell rang for lunch. She went over to the Godric's Saints table and sat down to eat. Yes, this was a partial Christian school, Christanity was a foolish muggle religion following the teachings of a non-human being called their God. She rolled her eyes at her house's name. "What in the hell is this to mean? Am I supposed to be a damn nun?", she exclaimed a bit louder than she should have.  
  
"I guess so," said an unfamiliar voice in the background. 


End file.
